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Free Agent Needs

The free agency hype continues as I look at what exactly we need to address during free agency.

I will personally be so glad when free agency kicks off, and not because it means we get new players. I'll be glad because we'll have something to talk about.

We've only been in the true offseason for more than a week and it's already driving me batty. I try to find new things to talk about, but there's just nothing there. We need free agency. We need the draft. We need camps and stories.

We're almost there. Here are our top ten free agent needs. Rip me a new one in the comment section!

10. Quarterback – You might be surprised to see quarterback even on the list at all. The truth is this.

A) Aaron Rodgers is awesome

B) We have nobody worth a damn behind him. While I love getting people through the draft and it is working out pretty well overall, if Aaron Rodgers goes down (GASP) we will need someone with experience to throw the ball. We will not need a QB who might be decent in a couple years. We need someone who has played NFL games and can do his best to not lose games for us.

POTENTIAL FREE AGENTS: Patrick Ramsey, Jamie Martin

9. Kicker – Yes, bring in someone to challenge Mason. I think we will too, but it probably won’t be through this period of free agency. We will likely bring someone in before camp starts and a kicker competition will take place.

POTENTIAL FREE AGENTS: Who cares, it’s kickers

8. Fullback – Korey Hall and John Kuhn are solid, but unless one of them steps up and stops being interchangeable, we might want to think about bringing someone in. There’s a good chance that one of them DOES step up and differentiates himself from the other, but keep an eye open during free agency.

POTENTIAL FREE AGENTS: Zak Keasey, Moran Norris (we don’t need any morons, but we could use a moran)

7. Tight Ends – Donald Lee disappointed me. Tory Humphrey is Tory Humphrey. Jermichael Finley is a question mark. Finley could end up being the new Tony Gonzalez or the new head server at Applebees. Unfortunately there are not many good tight ends in this year’s market. Tory Humphrey is the 5th rated tight end according to scout.com.

Yikes!

POTENTIAL FREE AGENTS: Bubba Franks, L.J. Smith

6. Punter – After “The Frost Incident” the team decided to go the route with Jeremy Kapinos and I love him. I love him because he kicks the ball far. I like that. He was an emergency replacement though and there are some questions about how reliable he could be an entire year. We’ll bring someone in before camp like with the kickers.

POTENTIAL FREE AGENTS: Who cares?

5. Running Back – Grant might be the new Gado and Brandon Jackson has almost proved he’s better than Grant which isn’t saying much. This year’s running back market is pretty damn good. We’ll probably spend money elsewhere but we should keep an eye on some of the good names below.

4. Cornerbacks – You can never, NEVER, have too many good cornerbacks. They’re so hard to find. I put finding a good CB up there with finding a good QB. So hard. Al and Charles will likely be back (Shut up, Al. You aren’t going anywhere). Tramon will be our rock for the future. Pat Lee and the rest are either question marks are exclamation points of suck.

POTENTIAL FREE AGENTS: Adam Jones (joking), Corey Ivy, Justin Miller

3. Linebacker – We’re entering the 3-4 era and we’ll need starters and\or backups who can play this scheme. It starts now.

POTENTIAL FREE AGENTS: Bart Scott, Michael Boley

2. Defensive Tackle – I like Pickett and Jolly but we didn’t get much of anything up the middle consistently. Keep both on the team but maybe bring in a younger guy who might surprise some people.

POTENTIAL FREE AGENTS: Tank Johnson, Gabe Watson, Kendrick Allen

1. Defensive End – We all know we had NO pass rush in 2008. I won’t bring up the injuries. I’ll just bring up the fact that 2009 needs to be much different. With Kampman now moving to LOLB in the 3-4, we need two defensive ends. There’s a 95% chance Cullen Jenkins will be our right defensive end. He’s perfect for it and seems to get better every year when he’s healthy. The other side is open for business.

As you see wide receiver is not listed – for obvious reasons. Our receivers are awesome. I also did not put up guards or tackles. There’s no need for that for two reasons:

1. We have young up and comers. We did not deal with their growing pains to NOT get the benefit of their growth and talent. An example of that is Colledge, who gets better every year and graded out in 2009 very high according to scouts, beat writers, AND the coaches.

Game after game I watched missed blitz and stunt pickups, but overall the pass protection wasn't bad, to be honest, for the past several years back into the early 2000's the line has been pretty solid in pass protection.

But on the run blocking side.. no, this isn't a stellar group this past year. You can write all the blame upon the running back or backs, but the simple truth is the line hasn't been particularly strong at the point of attack in the running game.

Part of it is the mixing of the ZB scheme with some drive concepts mixed in... part of it is players not getting low enough and maintaining leverage along that offensive line.

Colledge made improvements, no doubt, but he really had no place to go but up.. but he is far from a dominate player in the running game inside..

We have aging tackles, a marginal center and a couple of young players with potential. But remember, this is a group (Colledge, Spitz, Moll and Barbre) that are going into their fourth and third years.. their development has been slow.. so how is it the Sitton and Giacomini are magically going to blossom in year two?

Get wound up if I happen to disagree.. but the running games issue aren't all the Running backs doing...

93Z out!.... lol.

BTW.. not trying to stir you up.. I just honestly happen to disagree with the notion... and I wish they would have taken a more aggressive approach already... like hiring a different oline coach or assistant.. or scraping the ZBS totally and utilizing the experience that Campen and Fonteno have.. which was straight power drive blocking..

I agree that DE is the spot where a free agent would make the most sense. I've heard good things about Chris Canty--maybe he could be that guy. At NT, I think we can get by with Pickett and a younger guy to rotate with him. I think OLB is the only other real biggie in terms of where a free agent could help a lot.

My view of the OL is closer to pack's than to Dale's. I haven't been all that impressed with the guys Thompson has drafted, and our old OT's are at or near the end of the line. Maybe a free agent would help shore up the line, but somehow it seems like a longshot.

I agree about bringing in competition for Mason Crosby. Going 0-2 in game-winning field goal attempts is not getting it done. If it happens again, his career may be over. NFL teams don't like kickers who miss clutch field goals.

I'd like to see a free agent at DE, NT, and LB for defense. I'm not into huge signings, I would prefer second and third tier players. I would say if they drafted their first pick at one of these 3 positions, then sign free agents at the other two.

I am also not sold on Crosby. He has a great leg, but the percentage isn't where it needs to be.

I've already said my part in regards to the qb situation.

I'd love to see a great tight end on the roster.

I think the o-line could use a free agent either at left tackle or guard, I agree with Pack in that Wells should probably be replaced by Spitz next season. I don't like Clifton, however, I wish we could just make him go away.

Dallas won't be able to sign him (no first rounder this year) and I really think that he will just be staying put. Either way - I hope TT does SOMETHING in FA. I don't want to see him sit on his hands and let potentially game changers pass by.

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